ADRIAN, Mich. - After trailing by two points at halftime to #2 Hope College, the Adrian Men's Basketball team was held scoreless the first 5:59 of the second half as they went on to fall to Hope, 64-47. The loss drops Adrian to 13-6 (6-3 MIAA) but with a Trine loss at Alma, the Bulldogs still are alone at second place in the conference.

Hope scored the first five points in the game but after that, the first half was a closely contested ball game. The first half did bring three ties, one coming when junior Brad Whitby hit a layup for the Bulldogs to make the score 14-14, then Hope went on a 8-0 run in the next 2:28 to go ahead 22-14. Adrian battled back to go into the locker room, trailing 29-27.

The Bulldogs could not hit a shot to start the second as Hope went on an 11-0 run to make it 40-27 at the 14:22 mark. The run was broken when junior Dennis Mason hit a free-throw for the Bulldogs as they scored their first points of the second half. After that, the Bulldogs trailed by double digits the rest of the game.

Adrian had one player in double figures as sophomore Richaud Pack finished with 13 points while grabbing five rebounds. Freshman Adam Meier added seven points while grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds.

With the win and a loss by Middlebury on Tuesday, Hope will likely become the #1 ranked team in D-III basketball when the rankings come out next week. The Flying Dutchmen are 18-1 (8-0 MIAA) and have only lost to Western Michigan on the season.

With the Bulldog loss and the loss by Trine to Alma, Adrian controls their own destiny to the two seed, and a home semi-final game in the MIAA tournament at the end of the season. Trine and Adrian will match-up this Saturday at the Merillat Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. as Trine comes into the game tied for third in the MIAA with Calvin at 12-8 (5-4 MIAA).